Ice-crushing machine



G- C. PROUTY ICE CRUSHING MACHINE Oct. 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 8, 1949 INVENTOR.

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'icE CRUSHING Imam:

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Patented Oct. 17, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IcE-cRUs'HING MACHINEGlen Prouty, Joplin, M0.

Application March 8, 1949, Serial No. 80,225 aclaim's; (01. 241- 270)This-invention relates to crushing, machines, and: more particularlyto'a machine for producing: crushed ice from slabs in an economical andeflicient manner.

Av main object of the invention is to provide a -novel and improved icecrushing machine for producing crushed ice from slabs, said machinebeingvery simple in construction, having a relatively large capacity,and producing crushed ice whose fragments are substantially uniform insize, which does not w aste ice, andwhich operates in a completelyautomatic manner, requiring only the feding of slabs thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved ice crushingmachine whichis compact in size, rugged in construction; which pro videsa product substantially free from snow, and which utilizes the entiremass of the slab fed thereto to provide ice fragments of commerciallyacceptable size.

Further objects and advantages of 'thefinvention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompany ingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross-section, of an icecrushing machine constructed' in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view, partly in" crosssection, of the icecrushing machine of Figure 1. I

Figure 3 is a cross 'sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is across-sectional view'taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional detail view taken on line 5'5 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, ll designates a generally rectangularhousing'which is mounted on'ithe floor of th ice plant or on asuitablesupport, designated at [2. ll comprises a spout portion l3 connected toa discharge conduit l4, said spout portion extending through the flooror platform [2. Connected to the lower portion of hDIlSillg ll at'oneside thereof is a chute I5'through which slabs ofice, such asshown-atlS-are fed' into the housing.

Secured transversely inside the housing is a vertical partition wall I!defining a first compartment l8, adjoining the connection to chute l5,and a substantially larger second compartment l9. Slidably positionedfor vertical reciprocation in compartment is is a rectangular block 20.Slidably positioned in compartment IQ for vertical reciprocation thereinis another Block 22) is provided with The bottom of housing 1 a pair ofupstanding cylindrical guide posts 22 which are telescopically receivedin respective depending guide sleeves 23 secured to the top wall ofhousing ll. Similarly, block 21 is provided upstanding guide posts 24which are telescopically received in depending guide sleeves 25 securedto the housing top wall The respective guide sleeves 23 and 25 arerigidly braced within the compartments l8 and I9 by radially extendingstruts 28 connecting the guide sleeves to the various wall surfaces ofsaid compartments; as shown in Figures 1 and 2.-

Mounted on the support I2 adjacent housing H is a motor 21 whose shaftis provided with'a gear reduction unit 28 which terminates in a drivenshaft 29- carrying a bevel gear 36. Meshing with gear 38 is a bevel gear3! carried at the lower end of a vertical shaft 32 which is rotativelysupported in a bearing bracket 33' secured to housing H. The top end ofshaft 32' carries a bevel gear 34. Meshing with gear 34 is a bevel gear35-carried on the end of ahorizontal'shaft 36 journalled in the upperportion of housing H. Shaft 36 carries a first eccentric 31, located incompartment I8 and a secondzeccentric 38 located in compartment 19.Eccentric 31 has rotatively mounted thereon a peripheral eccentric ring39" which has depending therefrom an arm 40. Arm lll is pivotallyconnected at M to a bracket 42 secured to the midportion of block 20, asshown in Figure 3. Similarly, eccentric 38 has rotatively mountedthereon a pe:-- ripheral eccentric ringv 43 which is provided with adepending arm, not shown, pivotally connectedto the midportion of block2|. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the eccentric 3i is'mountedso as:

to be out of phase with respect to the eccentric 38 on shaft36.

Designated generally at M is a grate secured in the lower portion ofhousing: ll over the spout portion I3, said grate being formed of evenlyspaced'longitudinal bars 45 connectedbyfeve'nly J The topedges of.

spaced transverse bars 43; barsv 45 lie in a horizontal planesubstantially flush with the bottom wall of the chute IS. The

top edges of bars 46 alllie in a horizontal plane:

an external bevel gear 49 which meshes with a bevel gear 59 carried atthe lower end of a vertical shaft Shaft 5| is rotatively supported in abearing bracket 52 secured to housing H. The top end of shaft 5! carriesa bevel gear 53. Journaled in the upper portion of housing H is 'atransverse shaft 54 carrying at its inner end a bevel gear 55 meshingwith a bevel gear 56 carried on shaft 36. The outer end of shaft 54carries a bevel gear 57 which meshes with bevel gear 53-. Shaft 41therefore rotates simultaneou'sly with shaft 36.

Block 29 is provided with a transverse row of spaced depending picks 58.Block 2| is provided with a multiplicity of evenly spaced dependingprongs 59 which are respectively centered with respect to the grateopenings below the compartment l9.

In operation, a slab of ice l6 enters the housing H from the chute l5and engages against the elevated transverse stop bar 45. Shaft 35 isdriven by motor 21 through the shafts 29 and 52 and the bevel gearsassociated therewith, causing block 29 to be reciprocated by eccentric31, eccentric ring 39 and the connecting rod 49. The picks 58 movedownwardly on the slab and cause a transverse chunk of ice, shown at 69to be split off the slab IS.

The picks 58 have upwardly flared forward edges 6| which cause the chunk60 to be tilted over the stop bar 49 onto the rotating toothed shaft 41as the picks move downwardly toward the completion of their cuttingstroke. Said toothed shaft 41 advances the chunk 68 onto the portion ofgrate 44 below the prongs 59. As the block 29 commences its upwardstroke, the block 2| begins its downward stroke due to the 180 phasedifference between the eccentrics 31 and 33. The prongs 59 engage thechunk 59 as block 2| goes through its downward stroke and cooperate withthe grate 44 to shatter the chunk 59 into fragments.

i Since the prongs 59 are centered with respect to the grate apertures,substantially uniform crushing forces are applied overv the mass of therespective chunks 6i! fed into the space below compartment I9, producingsubstantially uniformfragmentation of the chunks. The ice fragments dropthrough the grate apertures into the spout portion 13 and thence intothe discharge conduit 14. The ice fragments may be collected from thelower end of conduit M in bags or other suitable receptacles fortransportation to points of delivery.

- It will be noted that the longitudinal bars 45 provide skid meansfacilitating the movement of the ice slabs l6 and the chunks 60 throughthe housing H from feed chute I5, to the toothed shaft 4'! and thenceinto the space below prongs 59. Shaft 4'! rotates counter-clockwise, asviewed in Figure 1, providing propulsion of the chunks 60 to the left,as viewed in said figure, whereby the chunks are fed continuously intothe crusher space below the block 2|.

While a specific embodiment of an ice crushing machine has beendisclosed in the foregoing 4 description, it will be understood thatvarious modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitationbe placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ice crushing machine comprising a housing, a transverse partitionin the upper portion of the housing defining a forward and a rearcompartment therein, a horizontal grate at the lower portion of saidhousing, a toothed shaft journaled transversely in the housing upwardlyadjacent said grate and adjacent the plane of said partition, atransverse stop bar rising from said grate, forwardly adjacent saidtoothed shaft,

a first block member mounted for vertical reciprocation in the forwardcompartment, a row of depending picks extending in a transverse planewith respect to the housing and depending from said first block member,said picks flaring upwardly in width in planes transverse to thepartition, a second block member mounted for vertical reciprocation inthe rear compartment, a multiplicity of evenly spaced depending prongscarried by said second block member, said prongs being substantiallycentered with respect to the grate apertures, means for simultaneouslyreciprocating the block members and rotating said toothed shaft, andmeans coupling said block members in opposite phase relation.

2. An ice crushing machine comprising a housing, a transverse partitionin the upper portion of the housing defining a forward and a rearcompartment therein, a horizontal grate at the lower portion of saidhousing, a toothed shaft journaled transversely in the housing upwardlyadjacent said grate and adjacent the plane of said partition, a firstblock member mounted for vertical reciprocation in the forward compartment, a row of depending picks extending in a transverse plane withrespect to the housing and depending from said first block member, saidpicks flaring upwardly in width in planes transverse to the partition, asecond block member mounted for vertical reciprocation in the rearcompartment, a multiplicity of evenly spaced depending prongs carried bysaid second block member, said prongs being substantially centered withrespect to the grate apertures, means for simultaneously reciprocatingthe block members and rotating said toothed shaft, and means cou plingsaid block members in opposite phase relation.

GLEN c. PROUTYL REFERENCES CITED 7 .The following references are ofrecord in .the

file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 27,191 Lykens Feb. 14, 18601,386,315 Cary Aug. 2, 1921 2,303,935 Hedlund Dec. 1, 1942

